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HENRY T. SISSON, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

PORTFOLIO.

Specification forming' part of Letters Patent No. 23,506, dated April 5,1859; Ressued March 13, 1866, No. 2,199.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that i, HENRY T. SIssoN, of the city of Providence, in thecounty of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Portfolios and Paper-F iles; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming partof this specification, in which- Figure 1, is an inside view of an openportfolio with my improvement. Fig. 2, is a central longitudinal sectionof what I term the barrel which forms the back of the portfolio. Figs. 3and a are transverse sections of the portfolio near the middle of itslength. Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse sections of the same near one endbut in different planes.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severalfigures.

My invention consists in a novel apparatus which may be applied in theback of a portfolio or attached to a suitable handle for the purpose ofholding and securing music sheets, pamphlets or papers of any kind.

To enable others to malte and use my invention I will proceed todescribe it.

A, is what l term the barrel consisting of a tube of metal, wood, orother material somewhat longer than the papers which are intended to beheld, said tube being left entire for some distance, say from half aninch to one inch, from each end, and having nearly one half theintervening portion cut away in a plane parallel with its aXis, havingan opening a, a, of a length equal to or somewhat greater than thelength of the papers. To one side of this barrel there are permanentlyattached two or more pointed hooks or teeth o, curved in a form tocorrespond with the arch of the barrel and extending nearly across theopening o, a. as shown in Figs. 3 and t.

B, is what l term the shaft arranged within the barrel, extending fromend to end thereof, and projecting slightly from one end thereof. Theterminal portions of the shaft are cylindrical and fitted into thecomplete tabular terminal portions of the barrel so as to turn freelytherein; but the part of the said shaft which enters the open part a, a,of the barrel, is half cut away or has a cavity formed in itcorresponding with the opening a, a., and one edge of this part isformed to project beyond the interior of the cavity a, (l, so that itmay lap over either side thereof as shown at e, c, in Figs. 3 and 4,'and in this lapping part c, c, there are openings d, CZ, (see Fig. l)to permit it to pass the hooks or teeth Z). In the flat portion of theshaft there is formed a recess whose back e (see Figs. 3 and Ll)constitutes a gage for the edges of the sheets.

The marginal portion of that side of the cavity over which the fiat sideof the por tion c, c, of the shaft laps and to which the hooks or teethb, are attached, is made fiat to correspond with the shaft and themarginal portion of the other side of the cavity beveled to correspondwith the rounded side of the shaft. Provision is made for inserting theshaft in the barrel by making a p0rtion of one of the complete tubularportions of the barrel movable, and when inserted the shaft is securedby replacing and securing the movable portion of the barrel.

q, q, (Figs. 2 and G) are coiled springs applied in suitable cavitiesformed between the complete tubular terminal portions of the barrel andthe portions of the shaft which fit thereto, and having each one endattached to the shaft and the otherlto the barrel and operating to turnthe shaft in a direction to press the lap c, o, toward the flat side ofthe cavity a, a, as shown in Fig. Il. j', is a spring latch attached tothe inte rior of the barrel within one of its complete tubular portions,and g, is a stop formed on the shaft to engage with said latch and holdthe shaft whenever the latter has been turned to the position shown inFig. 3. rlhe spring of the latch y, has attached a button 2'., whichprotrudes through to the exterior of the barrel for the purpose ofapplying the pressure of the thumb or linger for liberating the stop g,from the latch and leaving the shaft under the influence of the springsd, d.

The shaft has attached to the end which projects from the barrel afinger piece or head m, which may be taken hold of to turn it, and thishead is all that needs to project from the ends of the portfolio. Theboards C, C, of the portfolio are simply attached by cloth or leather tothat side of the barrel B, which is left entire, by means of a back y',of cloth, leather or other substance, and straps 7c, is, may also beapplied to connect the interiors of the boards with the opposite orinner halves of the complete tubular terminal portions of the tube.

To place music or other sheets in the portfolio, it should be laid openand the shaft B, turned in the barrel A, till the stop g, catches thelatch f, as shown in Fig. 5, which brings the recessed face portion ofthe shaft to the position shown in Fig. 3. The sheets are then heldloosely in the hand with the edges which are to be secured Linder thepoints of the hooks or teeth b, I), and close against the gage e, asshown by the red lines in Figs. 1 and 3, which represent them, and onthe button z', being depressed to liberate the Vstop g, from the latchf, the springs el, d, carry the shaft rapidly to the position shown inFig. 4;, driving the sheets on to the hooks or teeth and down to theheels thereof and throwing them over to the position indicated by thered lines in Fig. et, leaving them clamped between the lap of the shaftand the fiat face or edge of the barrel. In case of the springs notbeing strong enough to force the sheets over the hooks or teeth, theshaft may be turned by taking hold of the head m, and the springs willnot fail to hold it when turned.

By the simple omission of the boards C, from the barrel A, the samecontrivances which I have described for holding sheets in a portfolio,constitute a ile for holding newspapers or other sheets, but for thefile I should prefer to substitute a handle for the simple finger pieceor head m.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the barrel A, shaft D, hoolrs'or teeth b, Z), aspring or springs d, d, spring latch f, and stop g, the Wholeconstructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes hereinset forth.

HENRY T. SISSON.

Vitnesses JOSEPH S. PITMAN, ASAHEL S. POTTER.

